Alloy steel and articles made therefrom



Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

UNITED STATES a 1,468,937 PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY A. E. LRIBTROKG, OI LOUDOHVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO lLUDLUM STEEL COIPANY,.OF WATERVLIM, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ALLOY STEEL AND ARTICLES MADE THERE-FROM.

llo Drawing. continuation of applications filed April 1 0, 1918. Serial Ros. 289,152 and 289,153. This application filed November 11 1922. Serial No. 600.434.

To all whomit'mm concern: 7

Be it known that I, Pmc! A. E. ARM- s'moNo, a subject of the King of Great Brit ain, and a resident of Loudonville, county of Albany, State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Alloy Steel and Articles Made Therefrom, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved alloy steel and articles made therefrom. This improved alloy steel may be used for a variety of purposes, including cylinders and plungers for high pressure extrusion work, shafts and gears or automobiles and the like, shear blades, punches and dies, broaches, rivet sets,..and various other purposes requirin a steel of'unusually high strength. It 1s particularly well adapted for im act tools, such as hand and pneumatic c isels, punches, beading tools, smiths tools and the like.

My im roved alloy steel has a number of characteristic qualities adapting it for uses,

such as referred to and particularly for impact tools. Tools made therefrom can be hardened to take and retain a sharp cutting or penetrating edge or point. It is homogeneous and tough, and cutting edges or points do not break or chi off. When a tool made therefrom is ham ened' so that it cannot be filed, it can be bent without breaking. by the application of sufficient force.

My improved steel has a considerable quenching range for hardening, running all the way from about 1500 to 2100 F. The higher it is heated within this range before quenching, the harder it gets. By reason of having so considerable a range for quenching, it is easy for the ordinary smith to obtain a proper quenching temperature with the facilities at his disposal, and without the use of pyrometers or other devices for making accurate temperature determinations.

Analloy steel in accordance with the present invention may be of analysis about as follows, the percentages beingby weight:

Vanadium .10% to .85%

. without liarmful effect.

The rest iron with small proportions of impurities, such as sulphur, phosphorus copper and the like. A small pro )Ol'iJlOll 0 nickel, say up to about .5%, may lie present The following is a ty ical example of alloy steel made in accord aiuce with my invention, and same is given for illustration and for affording an understanding of my. invcntiononly and without limitation of the invention, as variations may be made within the range stated without departing from my invention:

Cold chisels and punches, for example, made from my improved alloy steel, of substantially the composition just given, may be hardened by quenching down from about 1500 to 2100 F. and, when so hardened, have a very high degree of cutting or penetrating power, and can, nevertheless, be bent right up to the cutting edge or oint without breaking. Punches made t ereof and driven cold through carbon steel have their points bent to the side if round somewhat off center. Chipping toos made thereof, particularly if thm, will bend after continued use and may then be turned over and used, in turned over position, until they bend reversely, and this may be done repeatedly without breaking.

he following s ecific example is given for illustration an for affording an understandin of an embodiment of my invention cold metal by long continued blows of heavy sledge hammers, and even after this treatment the head of the chisel was battered only slightly and the tool was in good condition for further use. Then a second chisel made from the same bar, was supported by its ends and bent considerably by sledge hammer blows without breaking. a

I have repeatedly seen punches made in accordance with my invention driven clear through blocks of carbon steel three or four inches thick, so that the punch came out on the opposite side, and at times, when the punch point happened to be ground slightly out of center, it would be deflected or bent,

- so that, on coming out, the point was curved or bent to one side, looking very much like a shoemakers curved awl punched through a piece of leather. Chisels of this steel, when used in a pneumatic tool, for example, for chipping defective spots out of bars of tool steel during its manufacture will bend to one side after long continued use, particularly if the chisel is comparatively thin.

When this occurs, it is only necessary to turn the chisel over, so that its opposite side is directed toward the surface or object being chipped and the chipping or other work can he proceeded with, using the same chisel, only in turned over position, and substantially without interruption of the work, and this can be done repeatedly. I

An electric crucible furnace can be used to good advantage in making the alloy steel of the present invention, but the use of other furnaces or apparatus may be resorted to, if desired, so long as substantially the desired components and proportions are retamed.

While Ihave referred to certain uses for which alloy steel in accordance with my invention is well adapted, it is to be understood that such uses are referred to only in order to give an understanding of some of the characteristic qualities of my improved alloy steel and that the invention is not limited to such uses, but that the same may be made use of wherever steel, having the characteristic qualities described, may be utilized to advantage.

The present application comprises the subject matter of my copending a plications Serial No; 289.152 and Serial 0. 289,153, both filed on April 10, 1919, and is a continuation of said prior applications.

chromium about .75% to 1.75%, tungsten about, 1.0% to 2.5%, and vanadium about ,10 to 55%, and the principal part of the remainder iron.

2. An alloy steel consisting substantially of carbon, manganese and silicon under .6%

and over 2% each, chromium about .75%

to 1.75%, tungsten about 1.0% to 2.5%, va-

nadium about .10% to .85%, and the principal part of the remainder iron.

3. An alloy steel for impact penetration tools having a guenching range from about 1500 to 2100 and capable of being bent without breaking when quenched down from such temperatures and of analysis substantially as follows: carbon about .30 to manganese about .20 to 50%, silicon about .20 to .60%, chromium about .75 to 1.75%, tungsten about 1,0 to 2.5%, vanadium about .10 to .85%, and the principal part of the remainder iron.

4. An alloy steel having composition substantially as follows: carbon about 35%, manganese about 50%, silicon about 30%, chromium about 1.25%, tungsten about 2.10%, vanadium about 30%, and the principal part of the remainder iron.

5. As a new article of manufacture, an impact tool of the class described and containing carbon about .30.60%, manganese about .20-50%, tungsten about 1.02.5%, vanadium about .10-.85%, chromium about .7 5-1.7 5%, and the principal part of the remainder iron.

6. As a new article of manufacture, an impact tool of the class described and containing carbon about 35%, manganese about 50%, silicon about 30%, chromium about 1.25%, tungsten about 2.10%, vanadium about 35% and the principal part of the remainder iron.

7. An impact tool for operating on metal made from alloy steel containing carbon about .20-130%, chromium about .7 51.7 5%, tungsten about 12.5%, vanadium about 10-85%. and the principal part of the remainder iron, cooled rapidly from a temperature in the neighborhood of 1700 F., having a high penetrative power and adapted to be bent without breaking.

8. An impact tool for operating on metal formed of alloy steel of analysis about as follows: Carbon, manganese and silicon each .20-50%, chromium .751.75%, tungsten 1-2.5%, vanadium .10.85%, and the principal part of the remainder iron, quenched from a temperature somewhat over the critical point and under 2100 F., having a high penetrative power and adapted to be bent to a material extent without breaking.

9. A sharpened impact tool for operating 1 on metal, such as a chisel, punch or the like, above thc critical point and under 2'l00 F., formed of alloy steel of anal sis about as having a high pcnetrative power and adaptfollows: carbon, silicon an manganese ed to be bent to a material extent without 10 (IlLli .QU-JWfiI, chroi'iiiuiii .75-1.75%,tungbreaking, b SiHi 1---2.5%, vanadium .10-.85%, and the re- In testimony whereof, I have signed my iiiainder iron with traces of impurities, name hereto,

cooled rapidly from a temperature somewhat PERCY A. E. ARMSTRONG. 

